Written Answers

Monday 18 December 2000

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in considering the future siting of the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency.

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce a decision on the future siting of the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency.

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it will take into account in making a decision on the future location of the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency.

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a location adjacent to the Scottish Crop Research Institute at Invergowrie is being considered as a future site for the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency.

Ross Finnie: Subject to planning consent, it is intended that the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency’s Headquarters should be relocated to Gogarbank Farm, some five miles west of Edinburgh, where the agency’s field trialling work takes place. Gogarbank Farm was considered along with a number of other options, with the assessment process being undertaken by external consultants. The principal criteria taken into account were the capital and running costs associated with each site, assessed over a 25-year term, the travelling distance from the site to the agency’s experimental field trialling land, and the planning restrictions relating to each of the locations.

  A scientific review was also undertaken to investigate the feasibility of transferring the agency’s extensive field operations to a site adjacent to the Scottish Crop Research Institute at Invergowrie, Dundee. As announced by Mr Angus MacKay in his answer of 1 December (question S1W-11704), the results indicated that the ground conditions would not be compatible with those necessary for the agency’s work on the certification of seed potatoes. Accordingly, planning of the relocation of the agency’s headquarters to Gogarbank Farm is now being taken forward.

Autism

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any proposals to provide more family support services and educational provision for those with autism.

Mr Jack McConnell: Scottish Ministers have recently agreed to allocate an additional £36 million over the next three years to implement the recommendations of The Same as You?, a Scottish Executive-led review of services for people with learning disabilities. One key recommendation is the development of a national network for people with an autistic disorder. We have asked the Scottish Society for Autism and the National Autistic Society to take this recommendation forward.

  The Scottish Executive Inclusion Programme is providing £12 million over two years to assist local authorities to include children with special educational needs (SEN), including those with autism, in mainstream education.

Bursaries

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has discussed the issue of discretionary bursaries with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and, if so, what conclusions were reached.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive has had no recent discussions with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities about the issue of discretionary bursaries.

Consultancy Costs

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the Scottish Office spent on consultancy services in each year from 1995-96 to 1998-99; how much the Executive spent on consultancy services in 1999-2000, and how much it expects to spend on such services in each year from 2000-01 to 2002-03.

Angus MacKay: I refer Mr Ewing to the answer given to question S1W-6883. Spending on external consultancy between 2000-01 and 2000-03 is not expected to differ significantly from 1999-2000 levels.

Dental Care

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any member of the Dental Action Plan Support Group is based in Aberdeen or elsewhere in the North East Scotland parliamentary region.

Susan Deacon: Two of the members of Implementation Support Group to take forward the Action Plan for Dental Services in Scotland are based in the North East Scotland parliamentary region.

Education

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce bullying in schools.

Mr Jack McConnell: Bullying of any kind is unacceptable and should be addressed quickly and firmly whenever it arises. The Scottish Executive has issued a range of guidance to assist schools and local authorities to tackle it effectively. We are funding the national Anti-Bullying Network to help schools across Scotland share good practice in tackling bullying and provide training and consultancy services to support schools and local authorities in developing anti-bullying strategies. We also provide funding to Childline to secure the continued operation of their Bullying Helpline.

Education

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why "Education for Sustainable Development" has been dropped as a cross-curricular aspect of the national guidelines for the 5-14 curriculum.

Mr Jack McConnell: The status of "Education for Sustainable Development" has not changed within the 5-14 curriculum.

  The importance of sustainable development is included within the "social and environmental responsibility" component in the revised 5-14 guidelines on Environmental Studies. LT Scotland is currently preparing a mapping document setting out opportunities for promoting sustainable development at all levels of the curriculum, which will be published early in the New Year.

Exports

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why Scotland accounts for only 3.9% of UK service sector exports, as reported in the Scottish Council for Development and Industry’s May/June 2000 Indicator, and what steps it is taking to address this situation.

Ms Wendy Alexander: It is difficult to make detailed comparisons between SCDI service sector export figures and those collected by the Office for National Statistics on a UK basis, and there is also the considerable influence of the City of London to consider. However, it is generally acknowledged that there has been a weaker performance in tradeable services.

  The Scottish Executive, through Scottish Trade International, is committed to helping Scottish exporters from all sectors to access new markets and compete effectively. The current Export Development Strategy for Scotland identifies a number of priority industries, two of which are from the service sector.

  According to SCDI’s last annual survey, for 1998-99, Scottish service sector reached a record £2.357 billion, a 14.2% increase on the previous year. The 3.9% figure represented a slight increase as a percentage of the UK total. In the same survey, SCDI also reported that some 40% of exporters in this sector expected to see future growth.

Flood Prevention

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11236 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 29 November 2000, whether it assesses flood prevention needs on a strategic basis or responds to bids by individual councils and, if the former, how this is done.

Mr Sam Galbraith: In order to review and develop its flood prevention policy and to assess the resources required to meet flood prevention needs, the Executive is informed by its bilateral contacts with councils, the biennial reports published by councils under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961 and the outcome of its research programme. The information available from these sources was taken into account in the recent Spending Review when significant additional resources for local authority expenditure on flood prevention were set. Allocations of these resources for major confirmed flood prevention schemes are considered subsequently on request by councils.

Flood Prevention

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11237 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 29 November 2000, what the extent is of the increased high flows in the River Clyde in the last 25 years; where these occurred; whether they pose any potential flooding problems, and what steps are being taken to prevent any such flooding problems.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Further to my previous reply, information on flows in the River Clyde is not held by the Executive. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency do, however, hold such information and I have asked the agency’s Chief Executive to provide you with the information requested.

  Any potential flooding problems and preventative action associated with high flows in the River Clyde is a matter for the local authorities and landowners concerned. Under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961, councils have powers to protect non-agricultural land from flooding and, since 1997, are required to publish biennial reports which specify the measures which they consider they require to take to prevent or mitigate flooding of such land in their areas. I understand from their reports that Glasgow City Council intend to carry out flood studies at Carmyle and Richmond Park and that Renfrewshire Council have identified the need for a flood prevention scheme on the River Clyde.

Food Safety

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest position is on the electronic tracing system for cattle in Scotland.

Ross Finnie: Good progress has been made in the Joint Industry Executive Group set up to advise on this work. To date some £4 million has been committed to the project with more to come for the roll-out phase. Key elements of the new system will be in place by April 2000 with a programme of roll-out and development from then on. A letter will shortly issue to all keepers of cattle in Scotland summarising progress and future plans. A copy will shortly be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Health

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a need for coherent epidemiological research into ME and, if so, what funding it is providing for this purpose.

Susan Deacon: Data on the estimated prevalence of unexplained chronic fatigue in the community is available from national surveys. The Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Executive has no plans to support further epidemiological research but applications for research on the causes of chronic fatigue syndrome and on treatments will be considered and be subjected in the normal way to peer and committee review.

Health

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Alzheimer’s patients are currently receiving treatment with Aricept, Rivastigmine or Galantamine, broken down by health board area, and what percentage of patients diagnosed with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease this represents in each health board area.

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients diagnosed with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease are currently on waiting lists to receive Aricept, Rivastigmine or Galantamine, broken down by health board area.

Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many allergy clinics there are in Scotland and whether there is any shortage of allergists.

Susan Deacon: Information on the total number of allergy clinics across Scotland is not collected centrally. However, specialist allergy services are available in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow.

  On 13 November 2000, I announced publication of a major review of immunology and allergy services in Scotland, the main recommendation from which is for an increase in the number of consultant immunologists. The Executive is providing funding to allow the creation of two new consultant immunologist posts, to increase our ability to identify and treat those patients most at risk from potentially fatal disorders.

Hepatitis C

Mr Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the letter of 15 February 2000 to me from the Minister for Health and Community Care regarding haemophiliacs infected with hepatitis C, when the Minister expects to be able to write again to me as promised on this matter.

Susan Deacon: I would refer you to my answer to your previous question S1W-10432 on 24 October in which I indicated that the report had been published that day and that a copy had been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

  A copy of my response to the report was also placed in SPICe together with the main submissions considered as part of this fact-finding exercise to allow those with an interest in this matter to have convenient access to them. I have written to you today with a copy of the report.

Higher Education

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of students at Scottish universities come from (a) outwith Scotland; (b) other EU countries, and (c) outwith the EU.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The answer given is based upon percentages of undergraduate and postgraduate students at Scottish higher education institutions (HEIs) and includes both full-time and part-time students.

  Higher Education students in Scottish HEIs - 1998-99

  


Total students (=100%)


184,853




Scotland


71.2%




Outside Scotland


28.8%




of which: Other UK


15.2%




Other EU


4.4%




Outside EU


9.2%




  Source: HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency).

Higher Education

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it is using to measure the level of success in widening access to higher education.

Ms Wendy Alexander: There is a variety of sources of data which we are monitoring to gauge progress on widening access. These include socio-economic data provided by UCAS on applicants and accepted applicants to higher education institutions; the annual Performance Indicators published by the funding councils which provide data on entrants from socio-economic groups IIIM-V, low participation neighbourhoods and retention; the Age Participation Index and the numbers and characteristics of people participating in higher education from statistics collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency. We have included a milestone in the Social Justice Plan relating to the Performance Indicators.

  We have also commissioned a piece of research on widening access to higher education which is due to report in the spring of 2001.

Homelessness

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will allocate resources to meet the costs of its proposals on homelessness which are to be included in the forthcoming Housing Bill.

Jackie Baillie: I am very pleased to announce that, as part of the recent spending review, we have made available £27 million over three years to meet the costs of implementing the legislative provisions to address homelessness which will be included in the forthcoming Housing Bill. This funding consists of £3 million in 2001-02 and £12 million in each of 2002-03 and 2003-04. The funding will, amongst other things, meet the costs of introducing a minimum package of support for all homeless people and ensuring that advice and information about homelessness and the prevention of homelessness is freely available.

Lifelong Learning

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, for each of the first five years of the initiative, what the budget is for Individual Learning Accounts, what the financial headings within the budget are and how much is allocated under each heading.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The budget for Individual Learning Accounts for this and the next three years is given below. The budget for 2004-05 has yet to be set.

  





2000-01
(£ million)


Each of the following 
3 years
(£ million)




Grants (incentives and discounts)


6


10.5




Customer Services Provider


2


2.0




Field testing, marketing, research 
and evaluation


1


1.5




TOTAL


9


14.0




  The split of the budget for 2001-02 onwards will be reviewed in the light of experience of the initiative in its first year of operation.

NHS Pay

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on the reports and recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Bodies.

Susan Deacon: The Pay Review Body for Doctors and Dentists (DDRB) has recommended a general pay increase of 3.9% both for salaried doctors and dentists and for pay elements of fees for general medical and dental practitioners. The Pay Review Body has also recommended an increase of 7% in seniority payments to general medical practitioners from April.

  The Pay Review Body for Nurses, Midwives, Health Visitors and the Professions Allied to Medicine (NPRB) has recommended a general pay increase of 3.7% for nurses, midwives, health visitors and the professions allied to medicine. In addition, the NPRB recommended that one discretionary point should be consolidated within pay ranges for F, G, H and I Grade nurses and Senior I, II, Superintendent/Head/Chief III and Chief IV Grade PAMs. The NPRB also endorsed an agreement reached on midwifery grading.

  For the third year, pay increases for NHS staff are above inflation. The Scottish Executive firmly believes that an investment in staff is an investment in patient care. The successful delivery of the wide-ranging service improvements set out in the Scottish Health Plan will largely be dependent upon these staff. We believe that pay for NHS staff must be fair and affordable, based on the contribution they make. I am therefore pleased to confirm that the Scottish Executive has decided to accept in full the recommendations of the DDRB and NPRB for 2001-02, with no staging.

  These increases will be met from the allocations made to health boards for 2001-02 and which were announced on 21 September 2000.

Oil Industry

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to the Department of Trade and Industry in support of licences for North Sea exploration being withheld from companies who are choosing not to develop, or free up, "fallow field" sites.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-10861 on 17 November 2000.

Scottish Transport Group Pension Scheme

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-2717 by Sarah Boyack on 14 December 2000, what further progress has been made in ongoing negotiations with Her Majesty’s Treasury regarding the Scottish Transport Group pension schemes.

Sarah Boyack: Whilst there is no legal entitlement for STG pension scheme members to share in the pension surplus at wind-up, Scottish Ministers are keen that they receive treatment that is broadly equitable with that of NBC pension scheme members south of the border. I am therefore pleased to say that we have now agreed with Treasury that when the STG pension schemes are wound up, ex-gratia payments will be made to members. A total of around £100 million is expected to be available for distribution.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in what ways the British Tourist Authority seeks to promote Scotland as an arrival and gateway destination for the rest of the UK.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I will ask the Chairman to write to you.